Month: April 2019

Today is a semi good day. I am going skiing. As is my habit, I packed up last night so I will be ready to leave quickly tomorrow. It’s really important to be on the lift immediately this late in the season. The snow gets slushy very early in the day late in April. And slushy snow is sticky and slow. So I like to start first thing and get whatever frozen snow nature has to offer.

Living in Auburn is a real boon to my skiing. It’s only an hour plus a few closer than Dixon, prior home, but that hour is huge. One must remember I gain two hours since it’s a round trip. I used to leave the farm about 530 to 6 am on a ski day. Now I can leave at 7 to 730. Sweet.

I got Emily out of the house and on her way. All chores done. Did a few things around the house and took off. Today I am going to Squaw Valley, the only hill still open this season. They are always last closed. Has something to do with all others being on Forest Service leases which expire on 4/21. I don’t know the particulars.

The drive to Squaw is about 80 miles. About an hour and a half on dry pavement and little traffic. Today was one of those days and I arrived at Buck’s shop at about 840. Turns out the shop is closed Tues and Weds. I called Bob to see where he was and he was still 30 out. So I drove to the Squaw parking lot, geared up and went to the lift.

I got on the snow a little after 9. Already getting soft. And slow. No matter, lift to the top, and down. Had a great time. Managed three runs before Bob showed up. He wanted to ride some other runs I had not tried yet.

A few minutes later we met up with Buck and two friends of his. Then we proceeded to ride all of the mountain, at least the mountain that was open. Had a blast.

I have an appointment in my office at 3 so I left by noon. The trip back was very fast, again had dry roads and no traffic.

I arrived in time for my appointment, lasted about an hour, and he made another appointment for tomorrow. He has about twenty tax returns for me to do. They stretch back to 2015 and are for their company and 3 shareholders. Last time I prepared taxes for them it was the same deal, lots of returns stretching back a few years. People are funny.

No more work appointments for the day. I stayed till five and headed uphill. I have to meet a property clean out guy and get an idea of an estimate for whacking all my weeds. Like a wise guy. Also gonna find a maintenance guy to keep it nice on a monthly basis. Which it needs.

So finished out my Thursday and got home right on time. Met Mike Rohrs who was already there, in my driveway. We walked the property and he had several good ideas. Like what I just said, clean out then get a maintenance guy. Brilliant. He charges $1400 per day to clean out. No, not a typo. I can bring in goats I said, those are $700 per acre. About the same price. So this will cost me. We are not gonna start for two or three weeks. That way the summer will take over and nothing will grow back. And I can hold my money for a little while longer.

My evening was boring. Emily is at yoga camp, and will be till Sunday. I fed the animals and had dinner. Did some chores. Went to bed. When Em is gone, no bad TV. I don’t want the noise.

Friday morning. It’s a little easier getting going when I don’t make coffee, or Em’s breakfast and lunch. I don’t mind doing it, it’s just a way quicker morning when I am alone.

So I got out earlier than usual and to work sooner than usual. Not that it does me any good since I seem to never get more done with more hours. I had five appointments today, the first was a phone call. I had to speak with a clients financial advisor who also reviews his tax returns. Always a joy to have your work questioned by someone who is trying to justify his own job by finding at least one thing wrong with my job. Really pointless.

Next two appointments cancelled. Or should I say one cancelled late and the other was a no show. Both are ok by me. I worked till about 430. I have to meet an insurance guy by 530 at home. Needs to inspect the inside of the house for some reason or another that I don’t understand, or want to.

So I had to race home really considering it was late on a Friday traffic. And the traffic was the usual crap. I got to the house at 528 and the guy was leaving. I reminded him what 530 meant. And he was an asshole. Lovely. He came in, took 8 pictures and left.

I made a cocktail and my dinner. No, cocktails were not dinner. But there are enough carbs to satisfy a strong hunger. Still, I had an elk burger on a cauliflower bun with a side of asparagus. Very nice.

After dinner I planned out what I needed for the big yard work weekend. After giving much thought, I added a very small rake and a larger rake to my list. I cruised the yard to get an idea of where I would start and then went in for the evening festivities.

I tried to watch a little TV, unsuccessfully. I just don’t care much for most TV. I can handle about an hour a day before I lose interest. I always think of what my Grandmother used to say, if you don’t watch you don’t miss anything. So true.

I went to bed. Tried to read but was too tired and went to sleep.

Up at 611 Saturday morning. One of those mornings where you just wake up and are awake and know it. So I got out of bed.

Put the dog out and fed the cats. It’s Saturday so we let the cats outside to play all day. They can then be in by six for dinner. After years of rural living, and over 10 dead cats, we are careful. The nighttime makes the cat happy until it doesn’t. So they spend the night inside. On weekdays we get home too late to let them run around outside before it gets dark and dangerous. Back on the farm our cats were 100% inside cats for prior noted reasons. Here, far isolated from most daytime dangers and loose dogs, they can go out.

Dog in. Fed dog. He is not an outside animal. He is completely deaf and has very poor eyesight. He follows his nose. If he got farther than 25 feet from the house we would never see him again. Inside dog. 15 years old, all he can do well is sleep and eat. Takes five different Rx’s. Special food. Eats well. Poops himself. Has to wear a diaper if left alone. But he is the baby and we take care of him. Our last dog. No more after him.

I got myself fed, showered and clothed. I could go out naked to Home Depot but then all the guys would no longer feel like real men. I can’t have that on my conscience. I am a giver.

Got my rakes and whatever else. And back to home. From nine am to about 6 pm I weeded. By hand. And the mosquitoes were out. What fun. Bug spray is on my Saturday eve/Sunday morn list.

Our yard is full of boulders, big ones. Kitchen and moss covered. Beautiful. But, there has been near constant rain since January and the weeds are freaking insane over our five acres. Today, I am weeding the “back yard” area we have that can be seen from the house. An area the landscape guy says is difficult to weed whack. And I want weed gone, not whacked. So this is a hand weed. Yikes. Lots of up and down and move around. In the full sun. What fun. And mosquitoes. And, btw, normally bugs leave me the hell alone (professional courtesy?) and bite other people. Pisses off my wife and son, human pin cushions that they are.

So, I was saying, this is a hand weed job. Not difficult, just insanely continuous hour by hour. I may have had near a third done by the end of the day. Maybe. Fortunately?, I still have Sunday. Yay.

At six I went in and showered to get comfortable. Had some wine. That helped. Made a burger with a side of broccoli. Yum. And relaxed. Ran some more errands for Rx and groceries and BUG spray.

Got home and made a momentous phone call. Yes, momentous. It will affect my life, while I live here, for the next thirty years. Wow. What a call. As I have mentioned in prior posts, if you are paying attention, I need to build a garage and a workshop. I had received a bid from Tuff Shed for $25k for two buildings. Today, Saturday, this evening, I called the number on the carport sign out on 49. I drive by the sign 2x a day minimum. So, I call, and get the owners personal cell phone. Which I like, cuz it’s the owner and just like me she posts her number for all to see.

So I spoke to Debbie for about half an hour. I like her. Does not hold back at all or rein in what she says. Just like me, no filters. We got along well. At the end of the conversation, she gave me a verbal quote of $11k for a 3 car garage. Winner winner!! Chicken dinner!! The shop? About $2500, no quote yet. I said write that fucker up. I will send money. Half the Tuff Shed price and their price was good. I feel richer all of a sudden.

Had some more wine. Did a few things around the house. Went to bed.

Sunday I woke up with a thoroughly sore body. And stiff hands. Not great. Got dressed, fed animals, and did what would make me feel best. I went out and started weeding again. I am only working till maybe 130 which is when Emily leaves yoga camp for home. I gotta do some housework before she gets back like towels, sheets and change beds. Nothing dramatic but at least she can see I wasn’t sitting around while she was sitting around all weekend. I win.

I got maybe got 40% of the “yard” front and back weeded. Save rest for next week. I have more landscapers visiting to give bids to but I will still probably have to do this part by hand anyhow.

So I did quit at 130. And did the bed changing laundry thing. Had something to eat. Stalked Emily’s progress on find friends every few minutes. I love that app. Have it on my daughters phone too. Track her from 2500 miles. Haha.

Emily ended up getting home late afternoon. We got her unloaded and unpacked and put away. I showed her my fine weeding job. She can’t do things like that. 10 minutes into a job like weeding I start to hear complaints about her back and her hands and blah blah blah. Which is why I always tell her not to help. I don’t want to hear. Fine by me, I have same complaints too I just don’t verbalize them much. Got to get done, unpleasantness is part of the job, just get finished. Emily is better at other jobs. Jobs she puts up with. No big.

About six I told her we were going out to dinner because I was tired and did not want to fix dinner even though I had it prepped and ready. Still requires cooking.

Off to Old Town and dinner at Club Car. About the only dinner place open in Auburn on a Sunday. And I like it too.

I was tired and sore. So, we both had two cocktails. My first Manhattan was excellent, her margarita disappointed. I had a bbq chicken salad and Emily had I can’t remember. Mine was great. Sunday dinner out is a nice treat. We do usually stay in and fix our own but the combination of factors forced us to go out. That’s my story.

It was getting late when we got home. End of a long weekend. We went to bed almost immediately upon getting home. I don’t blame me for that. Emily wanted to watch TV but fell asleep instantly in the living room. Off to bed, better choice.

It may actually be Tuesday but I feel like it’s Monday. Had to drag myself out of bed at 545. Emily jumped up at 530 probably remembering her drive time fiasco from yesterday (real Monday). I, on the other hand, don’t have any hurry in me today and am dragging. Hence the Monday feel. Spent thirty minutes texting with friend Cissie, have a couple errands before work, not much doing. I need to get some motivation.

Tuesday was boring. I need a new job. I have been thinking, sommelier. Seems perfect. Centered on booze and not wine, though. I like booze best and it’s become so popular again. I just bought a bottle of high proof tequila online a moment ago. I did not know it even existed. Can’t wait.

So today was as expected. Boring and work centric. I need a fun centric day. Tomorrow I am going skiing with my friend Bob. Known him thirty years. Don’t have many of those. Got to keep him alive. He had a stroke awhile back. Came out ok. Whatever. Tomorrow we ski.

Tonight is taco Tuesday, which we all know is the meal highlight of the week. Emily picked up ribs with nopales for me and I don’t know what for herself. I was not paying attention.

I packed up the car after dinner so I won’t have to race around in the morning. Like an idiot.

Walked down to the mailbox and finally met my neighbors, driving in. Seem like nice folks. They own a copier service company. Those guys make bank, if my services is any indication. They do have to keep the machines running. But if they are really good, they never have to fix anything. Anyway, turns out they have 3 cockers and I had mine with me on the walk. Something in common.

We did watch a little TV and drink some wine during our evening. Then off to bed with dreams of sugar plum skiing tomorrow.

It’s Easter Sunday. And the bunny did not disappoint. I got a basket of nice things. As did my lovely bride. I’m glad the furry little bunny can still find us.

We did not have a special breakfast. Just the usual we eat everyday. No newspaper again. I have sent more unfriendly emails to the Chronicle. I would call but all my calls are routed to the Philippines and I find they are unable to fix problems from 3000 miles away. I need to speak with the native English speakers in SF. They fix local problems. Of course, they like email and not phone calls. I hate them.

We did not have much going on today. Emily spent a couple three hours cleaning and rearranging her closet and other spaces. For the life of me, I can’t remember what I was doing while she worked. Neither can she. Like I said, weird.

Once Emily was done we went out to run errands. Nothing to exciting, we wanted to go to a nursery in Rocklin Emily had been to. It’s about a 15 mile drive there and I know once I have been there, I never need to return. So worth going.

I thought of the nursery, Green Acres, as a Nugget grocery is to all other grocers. Overpriced on everything, but lots of selection of high quality products. Just the kind of place I avoid. We did end up with some yard art, not too pricey.

We did need to do some planting when we got home. We did check out soil prices at Green Acres and no. All dirt to expensive.

So back to Auburn and we stopped at Home Depot. A nice place with a large nursery full of cheap product. Here we got all the stuff we really needed at a fair price. I was much happier to buy dirt and plants here.

A quick stop at Safeway, and we headed home.

At home we planted our plants in our Grocery Outlet pots I bought a couple months back. Cheap pots. Again, the kind I like. Did not take too long, maybe an hour and the pots look great on the front steps. We are that good.

We had Bbq dinner on our mind. Exact same dinner as last night, for the most part. Since we have working bbq’s for the first time in forever, we are using them. And maybe over using but I can’t say I care that much.

Dinner was fabulous again. Must be my bbq skills.

We spent the evening watching fine programs on the television. Well, we did watch TV. Went to bed early cuz tomorrow is work.

Monday. Dragged ourselves up by 545. That’s a mistake for Emily, she will be in the car an extra 30 minutes if she leaves after 630. Not my issue.

I spent my morning feeding and beveraging as always. I am good at it. Though I seldom hear any feedback. That’s ok. I still do it every day. No matter what.

I did a few things around the house before I left for work. Today I stopped at the Tuff Shed place. Wanted to see if Don has finished my plan. Turns out he does not work on Mondays. And the plans sit unchanged from Saturday. Tomorrow again.

Next stop Missions for a cup of coffee. Their coffee is expensive but so much better than anywhere else in town. Satisfying.

Quick drive to work in the race car. A nice sunny day with dry roads is good for the R.

I have three appointments today at 3, 4 and 5. I spent the day doing lots of work I did not do for the past two months. There is lots of catch up to do. Tasks are many and varied and not much fun. Def not very exciting either. But stuff gotta be done.

My 3 o’clock was late. Closer to 315. I met him as I left to go to the bank. What an idiot. He had been outside on the phone and figured it did not make any difference when he came in. My 4 o’clock had already cancelled so I was thinking I had lots of time. But, back in and talk to Brandon for an hour. Then I got to the bank. Which took forever cuz River City Bank is slow. And stupid. I got to pull my work from them. Move to another bank.

So back to the office. Worked more. It is perpetual joy. Speaking of, my 5 o’clock was a no show. Assholes.

Off to home. Stopped at grocer for heavy cream and half n half. I gave Emily an ice cream maker for Easter. Attached to the mixer. Looks easy. But I needed supplies. Remembered I gotta freeze the bowl so no frozen dairy dessert till tomorrow. Gonna be choc chip, Emily’s fave. Then mint chip, my fave, another day.

Tonight was salad made of leftovers for dinner. We did not plan ahead. So this is what we get. Dinner was fabulous.

Never guess what we did after dinner? Oh, you know. Bad TV. For an hour. Then bed. I look forward to that.

I slept in till 9. Now that’s a Saturday morning. We have nothing planned. Well, not much. A few errands, some clean up around home, and general hanging out. A full day.

So what did we do? We had a slow start, breakfast, showers. All very strange to me. I am usually gone by now so time of day and light is strange.

Emily decided to clean the house. I just love house cleaning. Love it. So I went outside and washed my two Green Egg bbq’s. Nasty dirty, both had ended up in storage and were in need of a scrub, in out and grill. Next up, wash four cars. Which I happen to like better. A lot better. So for the next few hours we each did our thing. I did not wash Em’s new Civic. She has a subscription at a local car wash. No sense doing that myself. I added a trip to the car wash to our errands. I washed the other four. Yes, we have too many cars.

About two o’clock we decided we were done. Not finished but done.

We cleaned up and headed out for errands we did not really have planned. But we will do them anyway.

We headed out towards down, down 49. On the drive I suggested we stop at the Tuff Shed store. We are in need of a three car garage plus workshop. The Tuff Shed alternative to stick built is a nice low cost alternative. We are looking for a 3 car plus workshop building. Does not really matter how it looks, we are pushing it to the back of the property so who cares. The design guy has come up with a two garage door plan, plus a window and access door which we hope will be close to $20K. We hope. Plus concrete foundation. Which we hope will be cheap as well. We hope a lot. While trying to get the design done our Tuff friend had computer problems. So he said he would email a quote to us. I hope so.

We left. Had to. Nothing more there now.

I needed to go to the optician. I have three new sets of sunglasses frames that need Rx lenses. There is an Eyeglass World close by on 49. We stopped by. An aside, I went to Stanton Optical on Friday. I am a longtime customer of Stanton. So, hit the local store on Friday around 530. They close at 7. They had me wait about 30 minutes when they told me the doctor had left. Even though the store closed at 7. They said come back later. Their service is lacking. Back to Auburn. I arrived at Eyeglass World at about 5. The manager, upon hearing I need an exam, went directly to the Doctor to make sure he hung out long enough to do my exam. Then they did their usual thing. I got my exam and they made sure I got everything I needed at what I would say was a lower price. No more Stanton.

Next we went to the car wash. Emily’s subscription wash, as you will recall. Not exciting but the car was filthy. After, last stop was the grocery store. Usual crap and some steaks for bbqing tonight on the now clean grill. And a few essentials.

Back home. Unpacked all groceries. Got dinner prep underway. Made the required cocktails. Made dinner, had cocktails and watched bad TV. A day well done. Lots accomplished. Relaxation as well. A fine day. I plan on sleeping in again tomorrow.

Friday is finally Friday. Because tomorrow I will sleep in and not go down the hill to work. Today is my first real Friday in two months. Yay me!

In honor of first Friday, I am going skiing. It’s gonna be 50+ degrees by noon so it won’t be a long day. But, I do get to ski.

So regular morning , left for the mountain at about 745. No traffic to speak of. Got a call when I reached the parking lot. Turns out I have an appointment at 10 this morning and I did not record it in my planner. Oops. We resched to 2 pm. So I am going into the office, which I had been trying to avoid today. That sucks.

Back to skiing. The snow was spring-like, not much ice mostly meltie. I had several good runs but by 1145 it was not worth skiing. Handy since I have the appointment anyway at 2.

My trip down the hill was exhausting. I got to office by 130 but had to stop for a quad coffee to stay awake. I am still tired from all the late nights and early am’s.

My appointment turned out to be a waste. Client thought, without asking, that their three tax returns were done and was planning in reviewing today. Except they were not done. So we had a nice chat about lots of things not tax.

Spent the bulk of the day on admin tasks. Usual blast of fun. I did stay till 5 since I was already there.

Home at 5ish. We decided to go out to a bbq place we drive by all the time. Always very crowded which we think is a good sign though not so well reviewed on a yelp.

Turns out, Yelp is a better judge than the crowds. The drinks are passable, the ribs good as was the brisket. Smoked chicken very much not good. Really liked the beans but cornbread was only 3 out of five. It was crowded though. The crowd looked quite rough.

Back home. Not too late. By recent days, it’s early. I was tired what with skiing, driving and drinking. To bed early with hopes of getting up late. Man am I whipped.

So today, a day like any other day, if you mean yesterday, was not so exciting. Today was just like yesterday. I had an audit at 1pm, same as Tuesday. So I went to the office and worked till about 1205 and headed to the IRS office. Conveniently located not even 10 minutes from my office. Well, not convenient. Just close.

The audit turned out well. Today no push back from the auditor. I was able to charm her. It’s my thing. It does work. Like today.

After audit, nothing special. Worked till 6 because everybody wanted something from me so I had to stay late. Sucks. Left for home just after six. Got several phone calls and had to stop and consult with a client at an off ramp near Auburn. Weird but not uncommon. I’ve done it before. Only took 15 minutes. Called Em and got her to meet me in town for a quick dinner. We went to Pho King Good. And yes it’s pronounced that way. The great thing is my nav system pronounces it that way. Now I can make the nav swear. Funny and cool.

Before I went to dinner I ran a couple errands. First to Safeway for chocolate eggs and kisses. For Emily’s class. Then to Best Buy for Emily’s Easter gift. I will reveal that on Sunday once she opens her Easter basket. That way everyone is surprised. Except me.

Off to dinner. I do love Pho and the place is very good. And the food gets to the table quick as hell. I like that too. I love the meat mix with noodles. All the gross meats like tripe and tendon and other connective tissue. Delicious!

After dinner, home. Bad TV. Put out the garbage. Watered the dog. Usual. And off to bed early.

It’s a busy day today. Most things making it busy are not fun things. Like every other day really. Just busy working.

I was up at 530, as is usual. The chores never change. Knocked those out. Emiky headed for school. I need to get moving and get my stuff done. I have a 9, 10 and 1 appointments. None in the office. Only one of great importance.

I got out by 8 which I thought would be enough time to get to my 9 am on time. It wasn’t. I stopped for a large coffee, which I need as I am still very fatigued from weeks of sleep deprivation induced by work. I hate my job.

My 9am is with Rachel, my esthetician. Personal. In Dixon. Rachel lived in our apartment above the garage at our farm for five years. She was a classmate and friend of Michael’s as well. Her baby daddy just left her about four weeks ago and she is in much better mental health than last I saw her. Smiling now and thinking again of the future.

I was 15 minutes late to see her and she was ok with it. She usually yells at me.

We had a nice time catching up on things like how her daughter is doing, how the child support thing is going (now has a lawyer), her new garden is very nice and she is very proud of it too. Rachel is back to controlling her own life and is better off for it.

Said our goodbyes and I walked half a block up N First St to Becky’s. She cuts my hair. Yes, appointment #2 is also personal. You were expecting something exciting. Becky knows everybody in Dixon so I get a large dose of gossip when I see her. She did not disappoint. And, of course, I am now completely up to date on her family’s goins on.

It’s 1030pm. I’m hanging it up. Too sleepy.

I finished up at Becky’s before 11. I have an appointment at the IRS In Fairfield at 1. So I need to kill time. I went over to my buddy’s tire shop to hang out and get more local news. We sat and chewed the fat for half an hour. Good use of time. We dont have much to say, really, but it’s still nice to visit. I managed to see a few of the guys too. I know everyone in the place.

Had a few errands after. Still lots of time. Went to Pet Smart in Vacaville, it’s on the way, for Rx dog food for Jaxon. Our last, and last remaining, dog. He is 15 and has been in poor, but well managed , health for a couple years now. We find it strange the other two passed before him. He is the sickest. Weird. Got the food. Went to my fave car wash for a quickie and the jerk offs had it closed for maintenance. I hate them.

To IRS Fairfield. Makes you think CSI Las Vegas. Sounds exciting. It’s completely not that. Boring cube farm of an office full of federal employees waiting for retirement. Boring place, boring people. The auditor was friendly enough but not as skilled as I want. She accepted my clients expenses but is trying an end around to disallow them. But, I will be fighting back with a nice written summation of why she is wrong. Nice of course. I do want her to accept my argument as to why she is dead wrong. The other item she is examining will be adjusted but she was not aware how that would work. I tried, gently, to tell her how but she would not accept my suggestions. Because she is stupid and has a fragile ego. Dumb ass.

After audit I needed to race back to Sacramento office to get docs for another audit. I have another ongoing relationship with an auditor over a very large deduction. We have been discussing back and forth for a month how to handle it. And I had a stack of docs due to the auditor today. And they were in my in inbox at the office having just arrived today, last minute.

I was almost in traffic drive time when I left Fairfield so I skipped all planned stops so I could get there in a timely fashion. Kind of a pain.

But, I arrived. Got my crap done and sent. The IRS does not accept electronic submission, cuz they suck. So I have to print all emails and docs, collate them and fax them to the auditor. Old school shit. Good thing I am old school.

So I left early. I mean, after my 3 county travels, I left early. About 4. I called Emily, she was about 15 miles behind me and suggested we stop for wine tasting at our local wine place. I am a club member and get free tastings. I needed to pickup my wine selections as well.

So I stopped in Old Town. Made a half dozen phone calls by which time Emily had arrived. Lots of great parking mid week. Not like Saturdays. We had a very nice time, not too crowded at 5 in a wine bar. They have some booze too. We had our tastes and headed up the hill. Still strange to come home in the daylight. I did not get lost this time.

At home we sat and watched TV until too bored to watch. We fixed a dinner of extreme leftovers. I was trying to get rid of stuff so I went to the extreme of just eating anything leftover. Strange combos but I still like them. And we used up a lot of old food. Now doesn’t that sound enticing?

After dinner, more bad TV. And boring. Until we were too tired and went to bed. Sometimes life is dull. Which I like. But, dull

It’s Tuesday. As all know, I have to be up at 5 to get the kid to the airport. And I want to go skiing. Well I was up on time. The skiing, that’s not working. The road is not closed but chain controls are up. I don’t like to go during storms. So, looks like Friday is a ski day.

Kid managed to get up. She is usually difficult to get moving but she is ready to go back to Hawaii and her friends. That got her up. Emily got up at 530. I did not do the usual chores. Just got things together and we left.

I managed to get Marika to the airport. I just hope she comes home and gets back to what she was doing. If she stays awhile in Hawaii she could end up going nowhere. Emily and I do worry.

So hugs and kisses at the curb in front of terminal.

Off to work. I picked up right where I left off yesterday and had much the same day as yesterday but without any deadlines. I finished the five returns from yesterday. Plus a few more. I checked on all my efiles for rejections and other problems. Not much there. Shared some tequila with Walker. Just the usual day. I got a lot done and tried to leave before five. That did not happen. A couple quick chores came up at days end and kept me there.

I was out at 530. Straight home, very little traffic, nice drive. Emily had picked up carnitas and we made tacos with lettuce shells. Ok, lettuce wraps Mexicana. Tasty.

After dinner, TV time I got a call from a friend from Dixon. Turns out he spends a lot of time in Auburn (new girlfriend) and he is only a mile or so from where we are. Small world. I invited him up to the house but not tonight.

Emily fell asleep in front of the TV. When she finally woke, she went to bed. I am going soon but want to finish here. Which I have.

It’s the 15th. Tax day. Emily’s birthday. Friend Barb’s birthday. Lots going on. Have had several texts this morning. People panic because they have again forgotten what happens every 4/15. Amazing.

I have nine tax returns to process and a couple hundred extensions. The extensions have become very easy with the advent of e-filing, so I will get them done quickly. Also, a few years back the state of CA did away with the extension requirement. So now only one per taxpayer.

Marika is still asleep. She is headed back to Hawaii tomorrow. Says she is coming back soon though I hardly believe it. She is enjoying her life there too much. And she claims it’s not the new boyfriend she met there. It’s the boyfriend, I think all of us adults know that.

Btw, I want to mention something, off topic from the usual. The blog is hosted by Bluehost. Supposedly the best in the world. If that were true, all others must be truly egregious in order to be worse than what I put up with. Just saying. If you decide to blog, avoid Bluehost. Or risk losing all your data. Every once in awhile. I hate them.

I am off to work. We will chat soon. Maybe before we take Emily out dinner tonight.

The 15th, at work, pretty much sucks. I have several returns to finish. I know in advance there will be some that wait till later. But I will try.

I did not arrive any earlier than usual. Why should I? No fun. I have 9 returns to finish for a client. I want them done today. But, I know there will be competing tax returns that drop in and stop me from completing my goal. Problem with the nine return client is the four business entities that feed into the five individuals. So I must finish the four to complete the five and that is a tall order. Today is my lovely brides birthday so I MUST leave the office by 6. Also a factor in getting all done today.

So today was an awful day. Too many phone calls, too many visitors, just a too many day. I did not meet my goal on the nine returns but I finished the four business returns. So I can finish the other five tomorrow. Though I want to go skiing in the morning. And I have to be up at 5am to take the kid to the airport. But that’s tomorrow. I did do estimated payments on the five so my client came and picked up the 4 and the payment coupons. But that was long after I left. Cara stayed and took care of the paperwork with our client.

Usually, this year is same, I reach the must leave point and just drop what I am working on and go. This year I had not finished all the extensions by 6pm when I left. Just figured I would do them online later, after the birthday dinner. When I was drunk and happy. Which I did. Nowadays it’s easy to login to the office server and do just that. Some tech is good.

On the way home I picked up Emily’s cake. Ice cream cake. Tradition for us, covered with mini ice cream scoops, melon baller size. One for each year. She had a lot of balls. This is the first cake from the Baskin Robbins location nearest us. There is a learning curve for them on our cake style. Unfortunately, the balls in this first try were huge and it hardly fit in the box. I will have to force her to do it my way.

Got home, cake to freezer. Is the the Auburn Ale House for cocktails and dinner. A beautiful evening and dinner was great. Emily had the fried chicken which is a fave. And an old fashion, fave of faves. Birthday dinner was great.

Came home and had ….cake, of course. Balls too big but that does not ruin the ice cream. We only used 11 candles cuz that’s all we had.

So we tried to watch TV but we are to full and drunk and tired so we all went to bed. Except me, I stayed up another hour and finished extensions. Then to bed

My God, it’s April 10th! I am almost done with another miserable tax season. And by miserable, I mean putrid. Awful. Ghastly. Disgusting. Gross. I think an intelligent reader has gotten the point I am trying to make. The season was not nice. But, with the end in sight, I do perk up a bit. Sort of like speeding towards a concrete bridge abutment at a very high speed and knowing the car is going to stop. Abruptly. Or sliding down a razor blade toward a bed of sharpened spikes – an abrupt and momentarily painful end. You can see I have given this some thought.

Since Monday I have done nothing but work. At least nothing but work while I was awake. I do get some sleep. Not much.

Yesterday was Isabella Choe’s wedding day. I mentioned her a couple times. She has been our vacation dog/cat watcher for a few years. She and Marika are old friends from way back or as way back as a 23 year old can go. I mean, I go back 40+ years with some friends. That’s way back. Marika went to SF for the civil ceremony and post nuptial partay at Absinthe. That’s a place I have wanted to go to but could never get a reservation. And I am not invited to the party. So it goes.

Monday was the normal day otherwise. Em and I to work, me home late, dinner and bed. Marika got home between 3 and 4am. Ahh to be 23 again.

Tuesday, not much going. Kid was in bed not moving when I left for work. Again, to be 23 again. I did go to work. And I worked as usual. No detail is too boring for me to share. Though the details are repetitive and mundane so no sharsies.

Taco day today. Emily picked up food in Dixon for us. She confused the hell out of me. What I thought she told me was our dinner, turned out to not be there when I got home. She bought burritos which I avoid. High carbs and all and I usually eat Chile verde or carnitas or cachete or the like. High protein and tasty. I ate left over steak instead. Not the taco Tuesday I had envisioned. Maybe I can find better choices next week when it’s the 16th and I have time.

After dinner, off to bed.

Wednesday. Shaping up to be a real barn burner. And, by that, I mean the usual. I do. It’s weigh in, 147.4 or thereabouts. I did celebrate by getting the PB cookie stash out of the freezer and filling the cookie jar. I love PB cookies. Now I have cookies at home and work (yay Cissie!) so I am in good shape. But not if I eat all the cookies. I will share.

Kid is still fast asleep. I need to wake her and take her to breakfast. I am showing her around and trying to get some interest out of her. Maybe buy in to do something. The breakfast place is hiring and I think it would be a good temp job for her if she ever comes back from Hawaii. She intends to go back again in a few days. Not sure for how long. She seems to think Hawaii solves all her personal issues. I think issues are not cured that way.

I did finally drag her out of bed. She did want to go to breakfast. We took the car in to the shop this morning too. Her car. Clutch issues and regular maintenance. I am sure they will find other problems as well once they inspect. Mechanics gotta eat.

We wen to breakfast. Cafe was packed and it’s only Wednesday. I have been here once before and know it’s a great place. Today, the food took forever. Like six cups of coffee while I waited forever. My kidneys were floating. But it did finally arrive. I ordered the corn beef hash which is so very good. Same as last time. Marikas omelet was, perhaps, best she had ever had. Or so she claimed. That good.

Finished up and I took her back to the house. She wanted to go back to bed. Surprise. I went to work.

So, with all the coffee in my system I still nodded off several times while driving to work. I am just tired.

The work day was identical to all before. Met clients. Prepared taxes. Talked on phone. I have written about this. I work on the manufacturing floor of an accounting factory assembly line. It can be dull.

So, left for home late. Had dinner. Bed.

Thursday, it’s Friday am now, was completely identical to every other day. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was different. It could be any day. But it’s not, it was Thursday. Same shit, different? day. I can’t tell.

Thursday night I was home late. Had dinner. Went to bed.

Ahh, Friday. April 12. At least I have something planned that makes it special. We are going out to our new favorite place, The Tin Lantern in Meadow Vista. That’s about 15 mins from our house, to the north. We ate here a month ago and it is a great place. Meadow Vista is a tiny town. You need a one week lead to get a reservayion at The Lantern. I would say everyone knows this is a great place. Fun, great food, great cocktails (and cheap!) nice people. We do love it. Tonight at 815. Sadly I waited till last Monday to reserve and 815 was earliest available. Crazy.

I am going to go get ready for my Friday.